Kiera Wilmot on arrest: 'I didn't want anybody to get hurt'

May 22, 2013|By Leslie Postal, Orlando Sentinel

Kiera Wilmot said today that she regretted bending to peer pressure when she set off a small firecracker-like pop on her Bartow High School campus last month, an incident that led to her suspension and arrest.

Kiera, speaking for the first time about the incident that drew outrage across social media sites such as Twitter, said she meant no harm and tried to dump out the household products she had mixed in a small water bottle as soon as someone told her she might get in trouble.

"I didn't want anybody to get hurt or any property damaged," Kiera said during a press conference.

Her twin sister, Kayla, stood next to her, holding her hand, while she spoke to reporters in a Lakeland church.

Her mother, sister and attorney all described the last month as difficult and said the Polk County school district and the Bartow Police Department overreacted when they viewed Kiera's actions as an effort to discharge a "destructive device" on a school campus.

"A child can make a mistake," said Larry Hardaway, Kiera's attorney. "If you make an unintentional mistake that doesn't harm anyone, why do you have to be arrested? Why do you have to be scared that you're going to be expelled? Why do you have to be taken away in a patrol car?"

Kiera, 16-year-old junior, was arrested after the incident, which happened outside about 15 minutes before the school day began. No one was hurt, nor did she cause any damage.

The school's resource officer arrested her on two possible felony charges, possessing a weapon on campus and discharging a destructive device. Kiera was suspended for 10 days, sent to an alternative school, which she still attends, and told she faced expulsion.

The State Attorney's Office dismissed the criminal case last week, declining to file charges.

Her story went viral online, with a petition urging an end to her criminal case collecting more than 195,000 signatures. On Twitter and other social media sites, many argued that both educators and police had over-reacted.

Kiera said her mixture of toilet bowl cleaner and a piece of aluminum was a possible science fair project, but her teacher told authorities it was not part of any class assignment, police said.

Marie Wilmot said her daughter brought the items to show the teacher and get approval for the project — but never made it to class because of her arrest.

Wilmot said friends asked to see the experiment and, at their urging, her daughter mixed the ingredients.

Hardaway said it is likely the school district will allow Kiera to return to Bartow High for the 2013-14 school year, which is what she wants.Kiera said she is unhappy at the alternative school, where some students have teased her and called her a "terrorist."

Kayla said she misses going to school with her sister and playing in the school orchestra with her. "I love music," Kayla said. "It's kind of hard playing the viola when my sister can't play her cello by my side."

Kayla was near Kiera during the incident and, even after administrators talked to them, thought "little of it." She was stunned when she heard Kiera was being arrested.

For the press conference, the twins wore the same dress in different colors — purple for Kiera and teal for Kayla. The twins have always been close and attended the same school.

Marie Wilmot said she was grateful to family and friends who had supported her and to strangers who had offered encouragement, and even scholarships for both girls to attend the Space Camp in Huntsville, AL this summer. She said author Homer Hickam is paying for Space Camp.

Kiera said she heard about the experiment from a friend but had not tried it out before that morning. She did not know what would happen when she mixed the items.

She said she was "curious" about the reaction but tried to dump out the contents when someone said she'd get in trouble.

But "when I picked it up, I could feel the bottle expanding in my hand."

Surprised and momentarily scared, she dropped it, then watched the lid pop off and some smoke come out of the top.

It sounded like someone had dropped a textbook on a classroom floor, she said.